It wasn't so long ago that investing in a utility stock was
thought to be somewhat ho-hum--reliable, but not at all sexy.
Today, a lot has changed. Utility stocks--and the funds that invest
in them--now give off quite a spark.

Consult any broker over the age of 50, and he or she will recall
a time when utility stocks were considered income-producing
investments for ultraconservative folks, such as orphans and widows
who couldn't afford to lose any of the dividend income these
stocks provided.

But the utility stocks of the 1990s are another animal, as are
the funds that carry their name. Thanks to such factors as utility
industry deregulation, the burgeoning of telecommunications stocks
and a global market, today's utility funds are anything but
staid. Instead of the stocks of local power companies, the stocks
now found in a utility fund's portfolio may include everything
from national to foreign interests.

One of the top-performing utility funds around is the MFS
Utilities Fund, A Shares. In fact, for the past three years, it was
ranked in the top three. In both 1995 and 1996, it was number one;
in 1997, it was number three, with a total return of 31.89 percent,
according to Lipper Analytical Services Inc.

Maura Shaughnessy has been the fund's portfolio manager
since its inception in February 1992. Ask her how she's been so
successful at managing the fund, and she'll tell you one reason
is that she isn't wed to any particular sector of the
market.

"I buy stocks and [convertible securities]. And I keep
about 80 percent of the portfolio in stocks and 20 percent in bonds
for income reasons," says Shaughnessy.

The MFS Utilities Fund typically has about 80 securities in its
portfolio. At press time, 82.4 percent of the fund's assets was
invested in utility and communications stocks. Of that percentage,
15.5 percent was in electric utilities, 13.4 percent in gas, 7.9
percent in telephone and 5.5 percent in telecommunications
companies.

The second-largest industry weighting in the fund is in
financial services. At press time, it made up 10.8 percent of the
portfolio, with the lion's share of those assets (9 percent)
invested in real estate investment trusts. The remaining 7 percent
of the portfolio was invested in a variety of industries, including
technology and energy.

While you'll find plenty of big-name U.S. companies like
MCI, WorldCom, Columbia Gas Systems and Bell Atlantic in the
fund's portfolio, Shaughnessy also invests in some foreign
utilities. One of her favorite selections is the Chilean electric
company Chilectra. She likes the company's growth, cost-cutting
measures and pricing strategy. Plus, Chilectra's management
team has proved itself to be turnaround specialists. "The
Chilean electric model has spread to other countries in Latin
America," says Shaughnessy.

If the thought of investing in utility companies doesn't
exactly turn you on, you might want to think again. While there is
no doubt this is a stock-pickers portfolio, the MFS Utilities Fund
is not for the ultraconservative.